[Css-csts] CSTS Procedure Templates and Example - Explanation

[Gert Villemos]

Dear all,

Some questions have been raised, concerning the change in layout of the
procedure templates compared to the CCSDS Minutes and the reason for
having two templates.

The goal of the procedure template is to document the existing
procedures in a harmonized way and to have a guided through all aspects
that must be considered when defining a procedure. In the layout agreed
at the CCSDS meeting we included a single chapter named 'Proposed
Changes'. While creating the template and the examples we noticed that
any change suggestion can affect any part of a procedure and will indeed
likely affect multiple parts (for example sequence of activities and
operations used). It should therefore be ensured that all aspects of the
procedure are considered when proposing a change and it should be easy
to compare any proposed change with the original procedure. Finally it
can be expected that different persons/agencies will propose different
changes, which will be difficult to capture in a single document.

To solve these problems we agreed with Yves that we seperate the
'Proposed Changes' section into a seperate document. We then for each
procedure have;

* A procedure specification. Captures a 'existing' procedure, i.e. the
behavior as currently specified.
* Zero or more procedure change specifications. Each propose a change to
a procedure specification and is effectivly a replacement of the
procedure.

The two templates follows almost exactly the same layout, ensuring that
all aspects of a procedure is considered when proposing a change. There
is only a single procedure specification for any given procedure, but
there may exist many procedure change specifications, each proposing an
update to the procedure, defined by different persons/agencies. And
these can with ease be compared to the original procedure and/or each
other, as the sections within the templates maps one-to-one.

The section 'UML Activity Diagram' was moved to after the 'Sequence of
Activities' as the UML diagram illustrates the sequence of activities.

The section 'Open Points' were left out by mistake and have now been
added to the templates and examples and uploaded to the CSTC site.

Best regards,
Gert Villemos.